Deuteronomy 27:5

5 And you shall build an altar there for Yahweh your God, an altar of stone, but {you shall not use an iron tool to shape the stones}.

Deuteronomy 27:5 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 27:5

And there shall thou build an altar to the Lord thy God
On the same mountain, though not of the same stones. Jarchi's note is,

``after that (the setting up of the plastered stones) thou shalt bring from thence (from Jordan) others, and build of them an altar on Mount Ebal;''

but Josephus F20 places this altar not on Mount Ebal, but between that and Gerizim. This altar, he says, was ordered to be built towards the rising sun, not far from the city of Shechem, between two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal; but the text is express, that it was to be built where the stones were set up, which was on Mount Ebal, and there it was built, ( Joshua 8:30 ) ; an altar of stones; of whole stones, as in ( Deuteronomy 27:6 ) , not broken, nor hewed, but rough as they were when taken out of the quarry: thou shalt not lift up [any] iron [tool] upon them;
to hew them, and make them smooth; (See Gill on Exodus 20:25);


FOOTNOTES:

F20 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 44.)

Deuteronomy 27:5 In-Context

3 and you shall write on them all the words of this law at your crossing, so that you may come into the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, {promised} to you.
4 And {when you cross the Jordan}, you shall set up these stones that I [am] commanding you [about] {today} on Mount Ebal, and you shall paint them with lime.
5 And you shall build an altar there for Yahweh your God, an altar of stone, but {you shall not use an iron tool to shape the stones}.
6 You must build the altar of your God [with] unhewn stones, and you shall sacrifice on it burnt offerings to Yahweh your God.
7 And you shall sacrifice fellowship offerings, and you shall eat [them] there, and you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or "and"
  • [b]. Literally "and you shall not wave to and fro over them an iron tool"
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